Comic Book Villains

Was this supposed to be comedy? It could hardly be called funny. A serious movie? Let's not even ask.

This movie transitions from lighthearted, mediocre but sweet/harmless farce to some sort of dark thriller in a way that is simply bizarre. The characters went from benign to murderous without any evolution... they just went from good to evil, plain and simple (I apologize for using that phrase). Both halves of the movie were vaguely interesting, and watchable. Neither was amazing. If the writers had chosen one tone to stick with throughout the movie, it would've been a regular old two-star, maybe two-and-a-half. But this... this was like if halfway through You've Got Mail, Meg Ryan went insane for some reason and started murdering people. It just fundamentally doesn't make any sense.

As for the acting, Logue was actually fun to watch, Cary Elwes (of whom I'm a fan) made me cringe, Eileen Brennan was actually quite likable, and DJ Qualls was hardly ever on screen despite being the narrator. He went through the first half of the movie mildly, and the second half with a sense of unease. Just like me.

Kind of a unique idea for a dark comedy. Competing comic book store owners trying to outwit each other for a prize collection. Unfortunately the crazed collectors are all, except one, unlikable, unsympathetic, and greedy. The movie is very uneven, with characters morphing from just scheming crazies, to murderers. It is at this point, when almost everyone has transformed into killers, that "Comic Book Villains" seems to have run out of ideas, and rapidly spirals downhill. If after the confrontation in the old ladies home, the script had been fully developed, the movie might have worked better on several levels. As it stands, it is at best, a very mediocre black comedy. - MERK

"Comic Book Villains" tells of an old lady who's sitting on her late son's valuable comic book collection and two competing comic book store owners who want it at any cost. Among its many deficits this shabby film has a handful of second rate actors, an amateurish screen play, obvious low budgetness, awful music, and a generally lame execution. Cinematic junk food. (C-)

Comic Book Villains

The semi-sociopath who reigns over the other similar souls in his comic book emporium has been worked enough to be a cliché. There is even such a chubby unkempt looser lovingly portrayed as part of the Simpsons repertoire. Other than displaying a life that many of us can look at condescendingly, can this be a lead character for a movie?

Opening in a vein of light hearted reminiscence of small town Americana, the drama builds with the discovery of the death of a "collector." This man had lived with his mom his entire fifty some years with only one love, collecting comics. Our Simpsonesque character is now in a contest with another store owner to see who can finagle the mother of the deceased into selling this bonanza.

A standard criticism of many films is that the characters devolve into cartoon figures. This film does quite the opposite. It starts with clichés and whimsy and slowly peels away this facade to expose a throbbing violent human conflict. When goaded by their true passion, love of comics and the wealth to transcend their limited horizons, greed rears it's transforming head. What is more amazing, the fim still manages to keep a sense of wit, but now with a mordant ironic tinge that is intrinsic to the human condition when raw passion transcends reason.

This is inspired filmmaking. Not a scene, not a line, not an expression was included that did not ring true. This movie was not well received by the voters of my internet site, so what you have just read it a minority report.

I admit that I rented this movie simply because I love comic books (and have been wanting to see it ever since I first learned it was being made); however, the movie really surprised me. It was a very entertaining tragicomedy, namely thanks to its premise of trying to get a 45-year-old comic book collection from an unrelenting mother.

Donal Logue put forth an excellent performance as the bankrupt and shabby local comic store owner, and Cary Elwes actually made a believable thug. Despite cliché hijinks from the Natasha Lyonne-Michael Rappaport team-up and unnecessary narration, the story makes good with incorporating capitalistic competition, laid-back criminals, and comic trivia. In short, anyone can really enjoy this movie, but it is a must-see for what Stan Lee calls "true believers."